Driving arrangement for aircraft propellers



Jan. 31, 1933. M. J. B. BARBAROU DRIVING ARRANGEMENT FOR AIRCRAFT PROPELLERS Filed Jan. 29, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l flah us lIeah Baphsfe Barbarou INVENTOR;

Attorney.

Jan; 31, 1933. M, BARBARQU 13895374 I I DRIVING ARRANGEMENT FOR AIRCRAFT PROPELLERS Filed Jan. 29, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E ZA Mafius Jean- 50 ptisr BOYbOYOU INVENTORI fig, Attorney.

t Patented Jan. 31,1933*- j V v v 1,895,874.

- UNITED srA'ras PATENT oar-lea mro's max-aarrrsrn mmov, or nnmnLY-sunssnmn, raancn Application fled January 29, 1931, Serial Io. 512,040, and in France February '7, 1980.

The invention relates to an improved arand durable driving connection between the rangement for driving aircraft propellers, crankshaft and the propeller shaft. and it has chiefly for its, object to provide 7 Moreover, the thrust ball bearing is genmeans for securely and efliclently supporterally spaced through a material distance in the propeller shaft which is subjected to from the forward bearing for the crank- 55 vi rations and deformations in operation. shaft (1n order to improve the aerodynamic Usually, the propeller isprovided with a qualities of the aircraft). The space which hub, which comprises a' sleeveand two end is available between said bearings and is plates 'adapted to clamp the pro ller, said usually not ut1l1zed permits of increasing as sleeve being secured to the forwar ly projectmuch as desired the ength of the fluted sleeve, ing end of the propeller shaft in an overhung and subsequently reduce to a great extent 'iti b a t r d fit, and a, key or by its thickness and weight fora given powerto utes betransmitted. I r v In practice, the pro 11ers of aircraft are The fluted mounting of said sleeve affords subjected to intense vi rations, which bring th ready d1 sm ount1n of the propeller, -toabout the rapid destruction of the connecting g er Wl h Its mtegra propeller shaft. The. arts b t th pro fl d it h ft, great length of the flutes also reduces the o avoid this, the lengt of the hub must be pressure along the surfaces of contact and, in considerably increase thus increasing un- 'a general manner, the whole arrangement is duly the weight of the overhanging parts. ger, nd more rigid, although it is..

The effect of suchvibrations is considerably g t r h n the arrangements heretofore. increased by reason of this overhung mount- P vided. a i f th ll d th d i ing t ue The 1nvent1on further relates to improveis transmitted to the propeller in a region mentS m he mountmg of the propeller and where th ell h ft 13 ort d t 01,19 in the lubricating means for the mechanism.

side only. In the accompanying drawings which are The invention has for its object to prevent glven e e y y Way of example, Fig. 1 is a or mduce the effect of the vibrations by translengthwise SQCtlOIl Of a preferred embodirang the flutes, which usually connect the ment of he lnventlon;

pro er hub with the propeller shaft in a Fig.2 is asection on t l e gportion of the propeller shaft where the latlg. 3 1s a partlal section on the lin ter is rigidly held against vibrations. 0f 1- Accor ing to the invention, the propeller Re g 0 the drawm s, 1 denotes the shaft, which is integral with a member adaptcrankcase, 2 a thrust roller caring en agin I ed to hold the propeller in combination th a shoulder 3 of the crankcase and a a ted aclamping disk and suitable clamping memto rqtatably pp the p pe f t hers, is provided, in the portion compris d The inner end of said propeller shaft has a between the forward thrust ball bearing for, tall Pf engagmg abearmg sleeve 6 o the propeller Shaft and the forward bean fitted m an axial bore at the end of the cranking for the crankshaft, with flutes engaging r v corresponding inner flutes of a sleeve, having i'g a1 w.1th he t 7 1S a dlsk 8 a driving connection with the crankshaft, the ed at its penghelzy Wlth notches 9 latter having an axial bore for receiving the gagmg cllaws 1O lfirolectmg irearwa'rdly i 45 inner end of the propeller shaft. g zg g b i g ig dlsk Due to this arrangement, the vibrations g g z g i 5: I

nerated by the propeller or the engine are g g a ex enia g9 ing formed ,at theperip cry of a disk 13 1nproperly ab d y the P01131011 0f the P tegral with a sleeve 14 extendin close to the pellet shaft comprlsed b tween th tw e thrust ball bearing 2. Said s eeve is con- 50 ings above mentioned, thus affording a sound nected with the propeller shaft by a series m 4 and locked in place by suita le means.

At the outer end of the propeller shaft 4 an integral member 17 which cooperates with a removable clamping disk 18 for holding the central part 19 of the metallic propeller;

member 17 comprises a circular disk-shaped portion 25 and two diametrical extensions 26, 27. The rear walls of extensions 26, 27 are conical and merge into the rear wall of portion 25. The lateral wallsof said extensionsalsonnerge into thelateral walls of por-' tion and the outer edges 21 of said lateral walls are machined in order to lie ina com mon transverse plane. The outer ends of extensions 26, 27 are bent at right an les as thus preventin annular member 11.

shown at 24, the bent portions eing ormed, with outer bosses 28 adapted to receive clamping bolts 14 and said portions clamping t e propeller 19 therebetween. The cen-- tral part 19 of the propeller bears against a shoulder 20 of the propeller shaft and the plane edge portions 21 of member 17. The clamping disk 18, provided with radial strengthening ribs 29, is secured to the propeller shaft by longitudinal flutes 22 and is held axially by a nut 23. The hollow parts"- 25, 26, 27" are provided to reduce the weight, while securing a rigid assembly.

From the fore oing, it will be seen that the ropeller shaft 4 is driven by the crankshaflt 7 through the medium of the disk 8, the annular memberll and the sleeve 14 in a region where the propeller shaft is roperthe thrust ball bearing 2 at the op osite side, the mjurious e ect of the vibrations of t e propeller. Thedistance between the end of the crankshaft and thrust ball bearing 2, as above stated, is quite large, whereby the flutes 15 of the sleeve 14 may have a great length and the sleeve maybe given a reduced thickness and weight, while possessing the required strength. The pressure between the flutes is materially reduced and the pressure between the teeth of the disk portion 13 and the annular member 11 are also very small by reason of the relatively large diameter which-may be given to said The lubrication may be effected in the fol;-

lowing manner: a p

Lubricant under pressure is forced throu h a duct 30 in the crankshaft 7 into an axial groove 31 of the sleeve 6, thence through a duct 32 between said-sleeve and the tail part 5and thence into the hollow propeller shaft 4, which is closed, adjacent the thrust hearing 2, by a flanged disk 33 having a-projecting rib 34 adapted to spring into an annular recess formed in the inner wall of the propeller shaft. Adjacent said disk is a duct leading'to the ball bearing 2. Oil is prevented from escaping by a nut 36, which length of said toothin from its recess in the shaft from an engine shaft which has the proper direction, for opposing the escape of oil. I

If it is desired to alter the angular position of the propeller with respect to the crankshaft 7, for balancing purposes, the nut36 is unscrewed and the propeller shaft 4 is shifted axially with the thrust ball bearmg 2 by means of a suitable tool, until the toothings which connect the parts 11 and 13 are disengaged from one another. The is such that the thrust completely extracted crankcase. Thepropeller is then rotated, with the crankshaft held. stationary, through the desired angle, and is then pushed inwardlyto reengage the POOtlllIlgS and the nut 36 is screwed again in place. I Obviously, the invention is not strictly limited to the constructional details above described and various modifications may be 's ball bearing need not be .made without departing from the scope of "the rear end'of said propeller shaft extendinginto the front end of said engine shaft.

,2. An arrangement'as claimed mclaim l,

wherein said driving connection comprises av fluted disk integral with said sleeve at the rear end thereof,-and a toothed. annular membersecured to-the engine shaft and engaging said fluted, disk;

3. An arrangement as claimed iniclaim 1,

wherein said driving connection comprisesa fluted'disk integral with saidsleeveat the rear end thereo a toothed annularmember enga ingsaid fluted disk and a' claw connec-j tion etween said annular'membe'r and said engine shaft.

4. 'An arrangement for driving a propeller I comprises a rigid connection between the propeller and said propeller shaft, two spaced bearings for said propeller shaft, an elongated sleeve between said bearings, a fluteconnection between said sleeve and said propeller shaft, a disk integral with said sleeve and having a, larger diameter than the latter, and a flute connection between the periphery of said disk and said engine shaft.

5. An arrangement for driving an aircraft propeller from an engine shaft comprising a propeller shaft, propeller holding means integral with said shaft, means for securing the propeller to said holding means, a thrust bearing in the engine crankcase for supporting' the front end of said propeller shaft, 3, bearing adjacent the rear end thereof, flutes on said shaft between said bearings, an internally fluted sleeve engaging the fluted portion of said. shaft and a driving connection between said sleeve and the engine shaft,

the rear end of said propeller shaft extending into the front end of said engine shaft.

6. An arrangement as claimed in claim 5, wherein said holding means comprises a member having transverse narrow plane contact surfaces adapted to engagethe propeller hub and limiting hollowed out portions, and clamping flanges engaging said hub for preventing rotation of said propeller with respect to said member.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

MARIUS JEAN-BAPTISTE BARBAROU. 

